Tag: Hardware
November 01, 2009 by
Jason
Microsoft’s “Better Together” slogan apparently applies not only to Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 but also to the latest iteration of the Windows client and the Redmond company’s peripherals. The vast majority of products offered by Microsoft Hardware features the Windows 7 Compatible logo and comes with device drivers designed to play nice with the successor of Windows Vista from the get go. Windows 7 was released to manufacturing on July 22nd and hit the shelves last week on October 22nd, with Microsoft applauding strong support and compatibility for the OS.
The Redmond company even features a webpage dedicated to Microsoft Hardware products and Windows 7, advertising a match nothing short of the perfect marriage between peanut butter and jelly. More importantly, the Microsoft Hardware + Windows 7 page contains a collection of special offerings for customers. The software giant noted that the special deals on Microsoft were open to all customers.
Microsoft Hardware products including mice, keyboards, LifeCams, gaming devices and notebook accessories, all compatible with Windows 7, are also available at discount prices from a variety of online retailers including the Microsoft Store. The only exception to the Windows 7 compatible line-up of Microsoft Hardware items is the Fingerprint Reader, which does not play nice with the operating system, the company informed. Read More»
Posted in Hardware, Windows 7 | No Comments »
September 30, 2009 by
Jason When you consider that computers now consume about 10 percent of the electricity generated in North America and that a great many PCs still end up in landfills, leaching deadly chemicals, it makes sense to adopt more eco-friendly computing options.
John Hiddema, technical consultant for Nerds on Site, is one of the many people making a conscious effort to go green. He recycles, buys organic produce, uses cleaning products less harmful to the environment, owns energy-efficient appliances, and has configured his
PC to use less energy. He’s also going green on the job. Some of the work he does for clients’ computer systems can be done remotely from his home office, drastically reducing his need for a car.
Here are some tips for making your technology use more eco-friendly.
1. Manage power consumption
Did you know that approximately 40 percent of the energy used for home electronics is consumed while these devices are turned off or idling? Techies refer to computers and related gadgets that draw power while not in use as vampire load. Turn off and unplug everything when you’re not using it. Even simpler: shut down everything and then turn off the power bar. Read More»
Posted in Computer, Hardware | No Comments »
September 19, 2009 by
Jason Are you running an older computer with Windows Vista or Windows XP and looking to upgrade to the latest iteration of the Windows client once it becomes available on October 22nd, 2009? Then you need to know that Microsoft has done its best to streamline the evaluation process of existing machines when it comes down to Windows 7 upgrade readiness. All you have to do is download Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor and run it locally on the computer you’re looking to upgrade to Windows 7. A Beta development milestone of the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor is currently available via the Microsoft Download Center.
When it comes down to Windows 7 upgrades,meeting the hardware requirements is just a part of the equation. Fact is that more complex details are involved. And while it might be easy for end users to tell whether their system’s hardware configuration matches the Windows 7 requirements, when it comes down to application compatibility and device driver support, things are a tad more complicated. Except if you turn to the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor.
“Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor scans your PC’s system, programs and devices to check if it’s able to run Windows 7. Read More»
Posted in Windows 7 | No Comments »
September 19, 2009 by
Jason Windows 7’s evolution compared to Windows Vista is undeniable, and the lucky few that so far have had access to the RTM bits of the latest Windows client can confirm this. But fact of the matter is that even in Beta Build 7000 development stage, Windows 7 bested Vista, and the boot time performance drag race is an illustrative example in this regard. However, Windows 7 startup speeds manage to leave its precursor in the dust. Some of you might remember reading about the 11-second boot Windows 7 delivered in a demonstration courtesy of Ruston Panabaker, Microsoft’s principal program manager of strategic silicon partnering. (via PCMag and Beyond Binary)
Yes, Windows 7 booting in just 11 seconds. My first question was, what kind of computer was Panabaker running, for obvious, and geeky, reasons. So I went ahead, and shot an email to Microsoft asking for details about the hardware configuration of the 11-second Windows 7 boot machine. Here is the answer a company spokesperson provided me: “This was ran on a Quad-core 1.7 GHz Nehalem [Core i7] processor on a Calpella chipset, 2GB of memory, 80 GB Intel X25-M SSD (1st gen). In the set up, the log-in screen was turned off in the user control panel.”
However, the Microsoft representative noted that the 11-second boot represented just the startup time for Windows 7. “Note: BIOS post is in addition to this,” the company spokesperson added. Read More»
Posted in Windows 7 | No Comments »
September 11, 2009 by
Jason
Microsoft has made available for download updated DirectX 11 resources tailored to Windows 7 and Windows Vista, but also additional Windows client and server operating systems. According to the Redmond-based company, the refreshed DirectX 11 release brings to the table the RTM version of Direct3D. Essentially, what it is offering is an update for the DirectX software development kit. Developers are free to grab the SDK via the Microsoft Download Center since September 8, 2009.
“The August 2009 DirectX SDK contains the first official release of the DirectX developer resources for Direct3D 11, DXGI 1.1, Direct2D, and DirectWrite. Developers can now publish and distribute Direct3D 11 applications and games that leverage all of the software and hardware features of DirectX 11 in Windows 7 and Windows Vista,” Microsoft noted. “ll headers, import libraries, and symbol files (.pdb files) are no longer marked as beta with the ‘_beta’ suffix and now link to the RTM versions of the runtimes. In addition, the HLSL compiler features for Direct3D 11 are now of release quality. The beta DLLs are no longer available in the DirectX SDK.”
With the August 2009 DirectX Software Development Kit update, Microsoft is offering developers the new Effects runtime for Direct3D 11. Read More»
Posted in Software, Windows 7, Windows Vista | 2 Comments »
It’s always a bit tricky to beta test a new operating system. Most of us don’t have an abundance of extra hardware just sitting around, and it can be both time consuming and risky to rebuild your production machine with a pre-release version of the next OS.
But with Windows 7, it’s pretty easy to beta test on the machine you’ve already got. Hard drives have gotten much larger and much less expensive, and if you’re running Windows Vista, you already have built-in functionality to help you create a separate partition for testing.
To get started, open the Disk Management section of the Computer Management console on your Windows Vista machine. You can access this by clicking Start | Run and entering compmgmt.msc. Right-click your current system partition, likely labeled C:, and select Shrink Volume. Windows will query the disk for the amount of available space. You’ll probably want at least 20-30gigs of free space so you’ll have enough room for the Windows 7 beta installation, some data, and a few applications. Read More»
Posted in Windows 7, Windows Vista | No Comments »
Users who have problems with their Windows computers now also have an easy solution to address some issues. With the Microsoft Automated Troubleshooting Services 1.0, the Redmond company is essentially automating the troubleshooting process associated with what it referred to as common glitches affecting its software. According to the software giant, the Microsoft Automated Troubleshooting Services 1.0 is designed to require nothing more from end users than a single click. But users have to keep in mind, that when it says common problems, Microsoft actually means common problems. The tool is obviously addressed at non-technical users.
“We launched the Microsoft Automated Troubleshooting Services, where with one click we can detect problems on your machine and automatically fix any common problems that are found. I know just about all of you reading this are computer experts and can fix these types of issues faster than you can run a wizard but if you’re like me, there’s always a friend or coworker (or parent) somewhere needing this kind of stuff fixed and if so maybe you can forward this along and save yourself some time,” explained J.C. Hornbeck, Manageability Knowledge engineer. Read More»
Posted in Computer | No Comments »
Microsoft is pushing ahead with the final stretch associated with the development process of its next iteration of the Windows client. Windows 7 will continue to cook for a little over a month as the Redmond company is baking the RTM build, with the Release Candidate milestone continuing to be available for a taste of the platform’s final development build. As Windows 7 starts on the last yards ahead of next month’s release to manufacturing, the software giant is not only focusing on the testing for the operating system, but also on getting the ecosystem of hardware and software solutions orbiting Windows ready for the successor of Windows Vista. One aspect of the company’s efforts is the Windows 7 RC Training Kit for Developers.
“The Windows 7 Training Kit for Developers includes presentations, hands-on labs, and demos. This content is based on Windows 7 RC and provides an early peak to our final training. This training kit is designed to help you learn how to build applications that shine on Windows 7 by utilizing key features such as: Taskbar, Libraries, Multi Touch, Sensors and Location, Ribbon, Trigger Start Services, Instrumentation and ETW, application compatibility,” Microsoft explained. Read More»
Posted in Windows 7 | No Comments »
Users who have problems with their Windows computers now also have an easy solution to address some issues. With the Microsoft Automated Troubleshooting Services 1.0, the Redmond company is essentially automating the troubleshooting process associated with what it referred to as common glitches affecting its software. According to the software giant, the Microsoft Automated Troubleshooting Services 1.0 is designed to require nothing more from end users than a single click. But users have to keep in mind, that when it says common problems, Microsoft actually means common problems. The tool is obviously addressed at non-technical users.
“We launched the Microsoft Automated Troubleshooting Services, where with one click we can detect problems on your machine and automatically fix any common problems that are found. I know just about all of you reading this are computer experts and can fix these types of issues faster than you can run a wizard but if you’re like me, there’s always a friend or coworker (or parent) somewhere needing this kind of stuff fixed and if so maybe you can forward this along and save yourself some time,” explained J.C. Hornbeck, Manageability Knowledge engineer. Read More»
Posted in Computer | No Comments »
With the availability of the Release Candidate for Windows 7, Microsoft has also made public the system requirements for the operating system. The good news? Users who have already moved to a Windows Vista-tailored machine will not need to upgrade their hardware yet again just to accommodate Windows 7. In fact, the system requirements for the next iteration of Windows are roughly the same as for its precursor, with Beta testers indicating that Windows 7 outperforms Windows Vista on the same hardware.
Without further ado, the System Requirements for Windows 7 are “1GHz or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor; 1 GB of RAM (32-bit)/2 GB of RAM (64-bit); 16 GB of available disk space (32-bit)/20 GB (64-bit); DirectX 9 graphics device with Windows Display Driver Model 1.0 or higher driver,” according to Microsoft.
The Redmond company emphasizes that the system requirements presented above represent the bare minimum required to run Windows 7. Read More»
Posted in Hardware, Windows 7 | No Comments »
Loading ...
